Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup – Roasted Belly Pork with Barbecue Sauce Braised Red Cabbage, Swede and Roasted New Potatoes – Key Lime Pie

My style of cooking for our dinner parties is fairly basic, but tasty (I hope) and easy to. The hardest part is to think up different menus, so I don’t repeat anything, and also when you are hosting, it is nice to prepare and cook as much as you can in advance, or dishes that do not need to be cooked when your guests are ensconced, so you spend most of the time with your guests rather than being in the kitchen. You can read about my style of cooking here

Dinner Party Menu Idea for 4 People

STARTER:  Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup (Serves 4)

Ingredients

3 Red Peppers halved and de-seeded
1 Onion unpeeled and halved
4 Cloves of Garlic unpeeled
2 Sticks of Celery sliced and chopped
500g Plum Tomatoes
2 Pints of Vegetable Stock (1/2 pint per person)
2tbsp. Olive Oil
1tbsp. Sundried Tomato Paste
1 tsp Flaked Chillis
25g Butter
Salt and ground black pepper

Method

1.  Pre heat oven to 200.  Place the pepper and onion halves cut side down with the tomatoes and garlic cloves into a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until tender

2. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and sauté the chopped celery for 4-5 minutes making sure not to burn the butter

3. Make up the vegetable stock and then add the tomato puree, sundried tomato paste and the chilli flakes.  Mix well and then add to the sautéed celery.  Remove from the heat

4. When the baked vegetables are done, remove the peel from the onion and the garlic cloves and roughly chop them, then add to the pan along with the plum tomatoes.  Place back on to a low to medium heat and using a hand blender, blend until smooth

5. Season to taste and gently simmer until the soup is at a comfortable temperature.  Serve with ciabatta bread or rolls

MAIN COURSE:  Roasted Belly Pork With Barbecue Sauce.  Serve it with vegetables of your choice eg Mashed potato instead of roasted new potatoes but I served it with Braised Red Cabbage and Swede

Ingredients

I bought 2 700g packs of  Tesco Pork Salt and Pepper Bellly Pork

Just pop in a roasting dish, drizzle with oil and cook for about 1 hour.  Halfway through brush over with some barbecue sauce

Barbecue Sauce

I just mixed  some  tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sauce, honey or golden syrup and some tabasco sauce together  in a bowl. I didn’t use any specific quantities, but just made up as much as I needed and to my taste, if you want it more spicy add more tabasco and more honey if you want it sweeter.  I used it  for brushing over the pork halfway through cooking and then heated some  up to pour over the pork before serving with vegetables of your choice

Braised Red Cabbage

Ingredients

50g Butter
1 Medium onion finely sliced
2 Dessert Apples peeled, cored and sloiced
1kg Red Cabbage finely sliced
100g sultanas or raisins
7 fl oz Sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a stainless steel or flameproof casserole over a medium heat (an aluminium pad will not work for this)

Fry the onion for 3 minutes, then add the apple and cabbage and cook for 5 minutes or until softened

Add the sultanas and sherry vinegar

Place a lid on the pad and cook for one hour, until all the vegetables are just tender

Season to taste and replace the lid.  Continue to cook until the cabbage is tender and all the liquid has evaporated.

This makes up quite a lot and it will keep for several days covered in the fridge.  Simply heat it up again when ready to serve

Mashed Swede

Just dice some swede and boil until tender.  Mash with a bit of butter, salt and pepper and I always  add a splash of maple of syrup (optional) and mix well

Roasted New Potatoes

Wash and cut the potatoes in half if they are too big.  Place them in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and a little bit of dried rosemary (optional).  Bake in the oven 200c for about an hour or until soft

DESSERT:  Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

Approx 8 oz Digestive Biscuits crushed
Approx 3 ox Butter
13oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 Pint Double Cream
Grated Zest and Juice of 1 Lime
Grated chocolate (optional)
You will need a 9 inch loose bottomed fluted flan tin

Method

Melt the butter in a pan, take off the hob and add the crushed biscuits.  Mix well and then press into the flan dish (you can line the flan with greaseproof paper to make sure that it does not stick) and chill in the fridge

Meanwhile whisk the condensed milk and cream together until thick and creamy.  Gradually add the  zest and juice of the lime until it thickens

Pour the mixture into the flan dish  and you make a pattern using a palette knife.  Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until the filling is set and firm

Just before swerving grate some chocolate over the top (this is optional)

Dinner Party Ideas and suggestions of what I think goes together best

See my other dinner party menus suggestions here